Thursday, August 18, 2011

Spelling issues

The problem with romanisation, whatever version is used, is that the results sometimes resemble English words with negative connotations. There is a place in New Taipei City usually spelled Shiding (新北市石碇區), but sometimes - to the amusement of English speakers - written Shiting.

As far as I know, the inhabitants of the village featured in the photo above are hardworking and honest. The village's name, by the way, is pronounced something like HO BOR; it's in the northernmost part of Tainan. The sign would, of course, look better if 'village' had been spelled correctly.